Tickets went on sale at 10am yesterday and early reports suggested strong demand for the 11-day event, which will see 4,500 athletes from 71 nations and Commonwealth territories compete for gold in 17 different sports, caused delays on the website.

Organisers are now emphasising that the tickets are equally available to buy right up until the September 16 deadline, and can be ordered by post as well as online.

A spokesperson for the games said: “We’ve been really delighted with the enthusiastic response to the first day of Glasgow 2014’s ticketing programme. We have already processed many thousands of applications through our website and continue to do so as quickly as possible. We appreciate the patience shown by customers during periods of high demand.

“But this is not a sprint – everyone has until Sept 16 to make their choices and get their applications in and we encourage everyone to get involved in Scotland’s biggest-ever festival of world-class sport.”

The Commonwealth Games aims to learn from the London Olympics experience of 2012, when many seats reserved for sponsors were left empty. Organisers say 70% of tickets to all the events will be available to the public, and visitors will be able to pay through a range of different payment methods, rather than confining itself to Visa cards as the London event did. Two thirds of tickets will be priced at £25 or less.

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